Gorillaz: The day(s) after D-Day
by shakura.kazuki
Summary: What happened after the day were 2-D got his second black eye and woke up from his coma? He was "adopted" by Murdoc, of course! It's basically a "slice of life" fanfic were I tried to stick close to the actual lore, telling every single detail of what happened after the incident.
1. Chapter 1: A New Name

Disclaimer: I do not own these characters, they belong to Gorillaz (Damon Albarn & Jamie Hewlett)

**[Chapter 1: A New Name]**

Stuart opened his eyes slowly. It was morning, but the living room was still quite dark from the curtains in front of the window. He was laying on a worn down leather couch with a towel for a pillow and nothing else but the clothes he was wearing as blanket. Which was a long sleeved shirt, pants and socks. At least he had the couch otherwise it would've been the floor. The towel was stained with dried blood and other mysterious spots and had a terrible stench, but the room overall smelled like cigarettes, alcohol and unwashed clothes so it just blended in.

Stuart raised his hand to rub the sleep out of his eyes, but the second he touched it, a terrible pain shoot through his eye, eye socket and head. He left out a whimper and clutched the side of his face. He looked up. In front of him was a living room table piled up with empty beer bottles, magazines and cigarette packs. He couldn't see well with his now both damaged eyes, especially the left one, which is still swollen from yesterday's accident. On top of that, the lighting in the room was not the best. With his other arm, he aimlessly reached over the table, toppling a beer bottle in the process which landed on the ground with a loud "clunk". Stuart moaned from the pain in his head. After shoving a magazine from the table as well, he finally found what he was looking for. He quickly took the little flask that was about to roll off. It read "Beforal - Butorphanol Tartrate" - a Painkiller used as intranasal spray. He stuck it in his blood encrusted nose without hesitation.

After a while, the pain started to dwindle and Stuart began to relax. He sat up slowly and wobbly, lifting his body with his weak arms. They felt like he hadn't used them in weeks and they were covered in cuts and bruises which whom he had no idea how he got them. He curled his hands in his lap and looked at them for a while. He didn't knew what to do next. Not a single thought formed in his head.

While staring at his hands, a faint urge raised in his mind. He looked up. There was a very full ashtray on the table and cigarette butts round it, which remembered him what this urge was that he felt. Luckily, a half empty package and a lighter were on the table as well. Stuart grabbed the package, but it took him a while to get a cigarette out of it. The lid of the package kept falling back which gave him troubles. After he got one out, he stuck it in his mouth but it fell out immediately through the space left by the front teeth he lost yesterday, because there was nothing to hold it in place. Stuart looked confused at the cigarette on the ground. He picked it up again, just for the whole thing to happen again, but this time he caught it with his hands. While looking at the cigarette, turning it around between his fingers, he started to feel with his tongue for his teeth only to find wound fleshy gums in place where his front teeth used to be. It tasted like blood, which wasn't a very pleasant taste. He stuck the cigarette sideways in his mouth and lighted it, taking a lungful of smoke.

The door opened and there stood a man with nothing on, but his underwear. His hair was styled to a black moptop, obscuring his eyebrows. He had a big wonky nose, from being broken multiple times and bags under his half opened eyes. Around his neck hung a golden upside down metal cross. Stuart remembered faintly, that this nasty looking man's name was Murdoc Niccals and he offered to drive him home yesterday. Only that it was his home, not Stuarts.

Murdoc stepped into the room and stopped, then he noticed Stuart. "Oh, right. I forgot." He touched his forehead. "Uh. What was your name again? Something stupid, I don't know." His voice was deep and raspy.

"Stuart Pot."

"Right. Yeah, that sounds like rubbish. Look _Stupid._ I brought you here for a reason." And added quietly: "And not only because I was forced to look for your sorry ass."

"I want to make a band and I want it to be perfect. Therefore I need a good looking frontman and **you** just happen to be good enough." He points at Stuart.

"I am?"

"Yeah, actually. I mean it. You look grrrrreat. Like an awkward corpse on drugs. With blue hair and a pretty-" He stops for a second. "-interesting face. **Anyways** \- you worked in an organ store, right? Can you play keyboard?"

"Uuuhh… I guess." Stuart looked at his hands nervously.

"Good, good. Come here for a sec."

Murdoc left the room. Stuart stood up slowly, putting his hands on the table to support his weight. Just like his arms, his legs were in no better condition: Weak and wounded. He pushed his body up with all the strength he had. He started to stumble through the room, hitting his foot against the beer bottle that rolled of the table before, which he ignored. He then proceeded to step into something wet on the floor. He couldn't make up what it was because the room was dark and his sight blurry.

He didn't wanted Murdoc to wait long and hurried through the door into the other room. It housed various keyboards and other instruments. The walls were decorated with posters of bands and demons and Satanism references. An upside down cross hung on the wall and there was a poster with the text "I love Satan" written on it. In the corner was a bed. The whole room was very messy, just like the rest of the house.

Murdoc plugged in a keyboard and lit a cigarette. "Show me your skills, kid."

Stuart looked at the keyboard, hovering his hands over the keys. He remembers that he can play them and that he actually loves playing them. He had loads of electronic keyboard devices when he was young. His father even helped him to customise some and he tinkered a lot, making music with drum machines and synthesizers. He pressed the keys and started playing, just going with it, miraculously, without thoughts and formed a perfect harmonic tune. He didn't remember being this good though.

Murdoc dropped his cigarette as his jaw fell open. Damn it, that kid was a keyboard prodigy, he thought.

"OK, ok stop. Stop. That was - quite good actually. I doubt it, but can you sing?"

"Uhh...What?", Stuart squeaked.

"I need you as frontman and I need you to sing. Just go play and sing."

"I- I don't know what to sing."

"Just sing something. Anything!", Murdoc shouted angrily.

"B- but I don't know!" Stuart panicked.

"Urgh. Fine." Murdoc was pissed. He looked around and picked up crumpled up piece of paper.

"Here.", Murdoc handed him the paper with a songtext written on it.

"Play something fitting and sing that."

"Okay." He looked at the text for a few minutes while Murdoc was tapping his foot in anticipation. Then, Stuart started to play a beautiful tune, yet kind of creepy and proceeded to sing the first verse of the song. His slow, slurry speaking voice changing to a deeper harmonic singing, in proper english, which went perfect to the melody of the keyboard.

Murdoc was awestruck. There he stood, slouched over a keyboard with a great look and angelic vocals, singing some stupid lyrics he wrote. He had his frontman. Although it came with an annoying price, as Murdoc will learn later on, since the accidents he caused didn't do his new singers mind any good.

Stuart looked at Murdoc, anticipating a response.

"Ok, good. Although a little warbly, buuut we can work on that. You're in."

Stuarts face lit up. "Yeah!", he said with a big, tooth gap sporting smile. Stuart had never thought of what to do with his life anyways and the offer to play in a band and doing what he loves - making music - was great, so he agreed.

"Anyways, what you need is a new name. A **cool** one, easy to remember. I can't have a frontman who is literally called "Stupid". People will laugh at us."

"But ma name is not Stupid. It's Stu-Pot."

"Exactly. That's what I'm talking about." He took a close look at Stuart. "Two black hole eyes… dented face. Dents. Hmmmmm. Two dents. Two. D." He scratched his chin. "2-D. Heh. That's good. I'm brilliant! Short, easy to remember AND it sounds cool for the teens. You will be 2-D from now on. Got it?"

"Okay."

"Good." Murdoc seemed pleased. The boy was more obedient than he thought. "Get your **face **clean, we're going out."

He left the room, presumably to put some clothes on. 2-D was left alone. He stepped into the hallway and looked around. Where could the bathroom be? He opened a white door which seemed to be the right one, but it was just a small storeroom filled with… well interesting things. An inflatable sex doll fell towards 2-D and he slammed the door shut, perplexed staring at it. That was not the bathroom, obviously. He shook his head, trying to forget what he just saw and went to the next door.

He didn't learn from the first time and pulled this door wide open again. He had luck and it was indeed the bathroom. The filthiest bathroom he had ever seen. It was very small with only a shower, a toilet and a sink and no window. Empty toilet paper rolls were piled up in a corner and the toilet itself looked like it has never been cleaned before. On the floor was dirty underwear and towels.

He tried to not step onto anything on his way to the sink. Then he looked at his reflection and the first thing which caught his eye was... well, his eyes. He opened them as wide as he could, but they were completely black. It looked like they were actually missing, but he could still see, which means they must still be there. He got closer to the mirror and the light illuminated his eyeballs, making them a shining dark red. They were fractured and filled with dried up blood which impaired his sight. The left eye was also severely bruised around it, making the skin all blue and purple. His natural azure blue hair was all messy and greasy. He opened his mouth and inspected his missing front teeth. Yup, completely gone, knocked out of his jaw in one piece. Nothing but bloody gums were left. As if his teeth weren't bad before, now they're worse. Speaking of blood, the rest of his face was covered in grainy, dried up blood, scratches and scrapes.

The wounds were from a car accident that happened yesterday, but 2-Ds own memories of it were quite hazy. Murdoc found 2-D and offered help, which was really nice of Murdoc. He said that the culprit fled and that he thought it was his duty to help someone in need. The only car accident he remembered was back when he worked at Uncle Norms Organ Emporium, which was in August 1997. He strangely remembered that day very well. Murdoc said it's April 1998 now which means yesterday's accident was a different one. He had no memories of the time in between, which was strange. Thinking about it only made his head hurt, so he didn't follow that thought any further. He would find out eventually.

2-D grabbed the nearest towel and washed the blood off his face and tried to fix his hair. He could really use a shower, but it was stuffed with various things and could not be used. "Murdoc doesn't seem to shower often.", he thought and left the bathroom.

"Muuuurdoooc?", 2-D shouted through the house. "I'm hungry."

Murdoc, sounding very pissed off screaming back at him from another room: "Look in the kitchen you **moron**!"

The kitchen was in no better condition than the rest of the house. Dirty dishes and moldy leftovers everywhere and full trash bags on the floor.

2-D opened the fridge, which was half empty and full of alcoholic beverages. Anything resembling food had gone bad. He grabbed a package of milk and a glass that looked only a little used and tried to pour the insides of the package in it. Nothing. The milk had gone so bad that it was just a clump. 2-D wrinkled his nose as the smell of rotten milk came up and put the package aside. He filled the glass with water and took a few big gulps. It tasted like alcohol, probably from the residue of the glass' former contents.

The kitchen cabinet didn't look any better, although he found a package of bread. It was stale and the last half moldy. He found it difficult to clearly see which slices were moldy or not. He looked at the package from all angles and picked one slice that had at least no black mold -which was easier to see- on it. He sat down at the kitchen table - which had empty packages, bottles and leftovers on in. 2-D looked out of the window and nibbled on his stale slice of toast. It tasted bad, but it was better than nothing. All of a sudden, Murdoc stood in the door.

"Get your ass up Dentface, we're going." He was wearing shoes, trousers and a black shirt now.

"Uh… wa? Where?", asked 2-D. But Murdoc was already on his way out. He quickly stumbled after him and to the red sports car that was badly parked in front of the house and got in.


	2. Chapter 2: A Rainy Day In London

**[Chapter 2: Roadtrip]**

The day was just like yesterday, a typical London summer day, cold and rainy with dark cloudy skies. The car radio was playing various songs from new to old. Occasionally, Murdoc kept switching to other radio stations to avoid certain songs. 2-D kept commenting those skips with lines like "But I like the Whoo Hoo song…", "Aww…", "I wanted to hear that one!", "Hmm…", "Can you switch back please?" but only got nasty looks from Murdoc, a "No." or no reaction at all.

"Maybe if you'd listen to the full song you wouldn't want to skip it."

Murdoc finally snapped. "IF _YOU_ DON'T **SHUT UP** FOR THE NEXT HALF HOUR I **WILL** THROW YOU OUT OF THE CAR AND LEAVE YOU BY THE ROADSIDE."

2-D flinched and covered his mouth. He was so frightened, that he didn't say anything for the next half hour.

But apparently, 2-D couldn't shut his mouth for long.

"You know, I really like this Blur guy they make good music."

"That Britpop shit? It all sounds the same."

"No really I think it's cool. And how they kinda battled with Oasis over who sold the most albums? That was wicked!"

"Oh yeah? Whatever."

"The singer, Damon Albarn has a nice voice… do you think I will be able to meet him one day?"

"Ya can bet your life on it! We'll be so good, we'll even be better than Blur. **They** are going to want to meet **us**!"

"You think so?"

"Yeah, I know it for sure."

Murdoc stopped by a house which 2-D thought looked familiar. "I'll be back shortly." said Murdoc and left the car. He then locked it, trapping 2-D inside and went to the house.

2-D realised that it was his home and observed how Murdoc talked with his mom and entered. Minutes went by and 2-D was bored to death. He couldn't open the door and all he could do was to sit and wait. He looked at the sky and noticed those tiny floaters dancing in front of his eyes and tried to follow the funniest looking ones. There were lots of them, more than he remembered and they almost filled his whole view. That had him entertained for a few minutes. Then he watched the raindrops slide down the windshield. He looked at his feet and dirty socks. There was no time to put on shoes and he kind of forgot. He opened the glovebox and found an empty cigarette package and dirty magazines. He looked at the magazine, but all he could make out were blurry outlines of woman, which was not really entertaining, so he put it back.

After an hour, Murdoc came back to the car, opened the door and threw a heavy bag onto 2-D."Oof."

"What's this?"

"Your stuff. Eh, she made me take it, so there you go." Murdoc didn't seem to be very happy about it.

"Wha- uh, what did you tell my mom?"

"Oh I told her... that you are now in my band and that you stay with me now. Anyways, she didn't agree at first, but I showed her my **great** _manly _body, which successfully seduced her. Nobody can resist me. Wa-a-ouw. Yeah."

"What do you mean by that?"

Murdoc sat down at the driver's seat and started the car. "I banged her kiddo."

"Bang?" 2-D took a few seconds to process his thought. "You shoot her?!" He made big eyes and panicked.

"What? No, calm down. For fucks sake. I just had sex with her okay? No biggie."

"You had sex with my mom?!" 2-D made a disgusted face.

"Well, what can I say, she's hot."

In this moment, all what 2-D wanted was to get away from Murdoc. But he had a heavy bag with stuff on his lap and they were already driving, so all he could do was to accept his fate. He rested his head on the bag and stared at the street. The fast pace of the white lines just disappearing under the car and the mirror like reflections of the wet street calmed 2-D down pretty fast, making him forget what just happened. He imagined little animals running besides the car out of boredom.

Instead of driving back home, Murdoc drove into the city making a stop at a pub. It was only evening, but the skies were so dark and cloudy that no sunlight came through and on top of that it started to rain. On their way to the pub, 2-D stepped into a puddle and stopped. "Oh no…"

"Hurry up.", said Murdoc. He entered the pub, closely followed by 2-D. The pub was mostly empty with only a few people sitting in the back and a bored barkeeper at the bar. As soon as they went in the barkeeper mocked: "Hey Murdoc, how's your music career going?"

"Quite good actually, found a _singer _for my new band." He smiled, showing a gnarly mouth with demonic, pointy green teeth and sat down at the bar. 2-D sat next to him, resting his face on his hand. His socks were wet and dripping on the floor.

"Oh. The comatose boy. How did you get him out of it?"

The barkeeper recognized him by his blue hair. Murdoc had dragged this young man to the pub last week to keep an eye on him. Originally, Murdoc wanted to leave him in the car, but people would start to worry about the reactionless man in the car and calling the police to get him out, which happened once and Murdoc didn't wanted it to happen again. After he dragged 2-D in, he left him lying right there on the floor, but had to move him to a bench where he didn't attract that much attention. There he sat all night, in his vegetative state, staring motionless at nothing while Murdoc got drunk and harassed women.

"Eeeh. Long story. Give me a glass of Vodka, will ya?"

The barkeeper gave Murdoc his drink and noticed 2-D's eyes, who were now both damaged and the bruise in his face. Probably from another blunt trauma induced by Murdoc. "What about you?" The barkeeper asked 2-D, but before he could say anything, Murdoc answered: "Nothing for him. Do I look like I can shit money?"

2-D looked disappointed at Murdoc and looked at his pockets to search for money, but as expected, he found none. "I dun have no money with me…" The barkeeper felt sorry for the bruised young man gave him a glass of water.

"It's on the house. How did you agree to be in Murdoc's band?"

2-D raised his head, smiling at the barkeeper. "Thank you!" Then he started answering slowly: "Oh... Murdoc said he saved my life... And I was at his home... He let me play keyboard. Uhh, a Casio I think, which was really nice. Anyways, he said I was good and I'm in his band now."

The barkeeper was surprised about his naivety. "Ok then." He asked Murdoc: "Are you sure that he's capable as singer?"

"He sounds like shit, ain't he? But trust me, his singing is great."

"This is going to be another one of your failures."

"No. Look mate. This is going to be the BEST. BAND. EVER. I'll be famous."

"You said that the last 3 times."

"It's different. Really. This time I got HIM as the frontman." Murdoc pointed at 2-D.

The barkeeper mustered 2-D again. He was tall, small torso with very thin arms, long legs and pale skin. His hair was spiky and had an unusual deep azure blue color. He had thick eyebrows and a rather round face. His nose was upturned and flat. He had thin lips, a big mouth and bad teeth. His eyes were completely pitch black, like two voids staring into space. He had a big blue bruise around his left eye and scratches on his face. Altogether he looked like an anorexic zombie.

"I can see that working.", the barkeeper said with a hint of sarcasm.

"No I'm telling you. He has this - this pretty boy look to him. The girls will love it."

"I'm sure they will."

"Heh, I'll prove you. Hey D. Get the keyboard out of the trunk!" He threw the car keys in 2-Ds direction, hitting his shoulder. "Ow." The keys fell to the floor with a loud rattling noise. 2-D stood up and picked them up. "Okay.", he said and went to the entrance without questioning. Outside, the weather had changed from slight rain to heavy downpour. He hesitated.

"What's the matter?", Murdoc asked.

"It's rainin'."

"I don't' care. Get the bloody keyboard!", Murdoc shouted from the bar, waving his fist into the air.

2-D looked at him concerned. "Ah, alright. Okay." He ran to the car, holding his thin arms over his head, but he got soaked wet in seconds. He opened the trunk, which was stuffed with various things like clothes and trash and of course - a keyboard. 2-D hesitated and looked back at the bar entrance. How was he going to get the keyboard over there without it getting all wet? He grabbed it and pressed it onto his chest and bent over to shield it with his body, then got back to the pub as fast as he could. When 2-D approached, Murdoc turned around and looked at the keyboard, then stood up and slapped 2-D in the face.

"You dumb fuck!", he screamed and ripped the keyboard out of 2-Ds wet hands. 2-D rubbed the side of his face, the painkillers he took earlier still had their effect, making it not too painful for him. "Bloody hell.", Murdoc swore. "You can't expose a damn keyboard to the bloody rain." The barkeeper didn't question anything. Since 2-D was soaking wet, Murdoc grumpily used his own sleeve to dry the keyboard and put it on a table. "I swear to hell, if it's broken, you're dead." Murdoc plugged in the keyboard and pressed a key. The keyboard worked though. "Hmpf. Good for you." Murdoc stepped aside and crossed his arms. "Now play that shit from before. And don't embarrass me."

2-D willingly sat down, looked at Murdoc and then back at the keyboard. He pressed some keys, but they didn't quite make any good sound, as he was too nervous to concentrate. Murdoc moaned. "Get your shit together."

"Maybe you should come back another day.", said the barkeeper.

"No. It's alright. He got it." Murdoc looked back at 2-D and said in a much friendlier tone: "Right 2-D? Come on, play that tune."

2-D was staring at the keyboard. He was soaking wet, his hair stuck to his face and his clothes stuck to his body. You could see his pale skin through his white shirt. He was cold and he was hungry and he felt ill. He reached into his pocket and took another shot of his painkiller to make it all better. Murdoc was tapping his foot in anticipation. 2-D closed his eyes, took a deep breath and started playing the same wonderful melody from before. There was a dead silence in the room, aside from the keyboard and when he started to sing his warbly slow melody, it felt like the whole world was listening to the sound of his voice.

The barkeeper looked surprised. "Oh, he's got talent!"

"I've got a feeling that it's pretty much the only thing he is capable off, really."

"No.", 2-D sounded offended. "I can do other things, like… uh… uhm…"

"Nothing?"

"I like zombie movies, like, Dawn of the Dead and stuff. I can tell you a lot about 'em."

"That's not a talent mate."

"Oh."

2-D looked back at the keyboard. "I need to take a wee." He stood up and walked around, stopped and got back to Murdoc. "Where is the toilet?"

"That way.", the barkeeper pointed into the direction were the bathroom was.

"Thank you!"

Murdoc went back to the bar and emptied his vodka. "Another."

"He doesn't seem to be too bright to me.", commented the barkeeper and filled his glass with new beverage.

"Yeah, I noticed. Probably got some _special needs_, but it doesn't matter. He'll make me famous, and that's all what counts."

"Probably because of your car accident and rough handling."

"Eh. Fair enough. But it did give him an interesting look, don't cha think?"

"Kind of, yes. Do you even like him?"

"No. I hate him. He's annoying. I can tell you, he's only been around for a day and he already pisses me off. All for the sake of world domination baybeh." He took a big gulp of alcohol, then lighted a cigarette.

"How does he stay with you so willingly? I mean, you're a dick to him."

"Hey. I'm being nice. I told him that I saved his life - I mean, yeah I DID get him out of that stupid coma I guess. It's true. So he owes me. Being on drugs might help too."

2-D came back from the toilet, looked at Murdoc and sat down with the keyboard and played whatever came into his simple, painkiller numbed mind.


	3. Chapter 3: The Long Way Home

It was a typical rainy evening in London. A day, were most people would stay at home and watch TV. But here, there was a lonely pub, with the doors open to welcome anyone who was out for a drink. From the inside came music from the sound of an electronic piano, while someone was singing gullible nonsense with a voice so mellow and soft it didn't even matter what was said, it was harmonic and welcoming.

After a while, more people started to appear in the lonely pub, looking for the source of the music. They quickly found a skinny young man with blue hair playing a keyboard in a corner of the bar. The people sat down for a drink and to watch him and listen. Murdoc was eyeing each of them with care.

When 2-D stopped to drink and rest a little, someone walked up to him to compliment.

"You're good."

"Thanks.", he smiled.

"What's your name?"

"2-D."

"That's an odd name."

"Murdoc calls me that, he said it sounds cool."

"Murdoc?"

2-D pointed at Murdoc. "I'm in his band, you know? He wrote the song."

"Oh, cool. What's the band called?"

"Uh… I don't fink we have a name yet…", 2-D said to the complimenting person and then screamed "MURDOC?" through the whole pub whilst only sitting one table away from him. Murdoc flinched and almost spilled his drink.

Then, 2-D asked: "What's our band called?"

"No need to yell.", Murdoc said grumpily. "Haven't got a name yet."

He stood up and joined the people who were interested in 2-D. He had overheard the whole conversation.

"But y'know what? We've only started today, but we're aiming to go big. Just need to find a few more members and we're ready to go. This blue haired train wreck is our singer and keyboarder and this handsome man-", Murdoc pointed at himself." Is the bassist. I'm great. Got lots of experience already, y'know? He was full of himself.

"Maybe you know some of my other bands: Crimson Backdraft, Stupid Name Gang, Durango 95..."

"Oh. Never heard of them."

"Burning Sensations?"

Someone else: "Those were terrible, your incomprehensive crooning sounds like a goat dying."

"Hey, take that back."

"Really. I'm glad you choose someone else to sing now."

"Ok, that's **it**!"

Murdoc hauled off for a strike, but missed. He immediately went off for another, but was stopped by a blow to the face from the offender. 2-D, trembling in fear, pushed himself into the corner of the bench he was sitting on. Unfortunately for Murdoc, the other guy was stronger and he landed a few hits on Murdoc, while Murdoc's hits appeared to do nothing. Finally, Murdoc gave up.

"You're all not worth my great singing talent!" Murdoc pointed at the offender. "We're going."

He grabbed the neck of 2-D's shirt and pulled him from the bench. He could barely hold his balance and stumbled forward.

"Ow, hey!" 2-D struggled to free himself from Murdoc's grip.

They were already on their way to the door when 2-D noticed: "Oi, the keyboard!" Murdoc finally let go of 2-D, who picked up the keyboard from the table.

"Hey, you didn't pay for the drinks!", shouted the barkeeper as they were on their way out.

"Got ya some customers, didn't I? Take that as payment."

"Bye, bye!", 2-D said while waving at the bar people.

The weather outside has gotten a bit better, but it was still cold and windy. The sun had already set and it was dark, not that there was any sunshine to begin with. The red sports car was nowhere to be seen.

2-D noted: "Uhh I fink your car is gone."

Murdoc was staring at the space where the car was parked before. After he processed what happened, he turned around towards 2-D and started hitting him repeatedly.

"Because you-" Murdoc slapped 2-D in the face, who immediately hid it behind the keyboard in response. "Ah!"

"-left-" 2-D got a heavy punch to his shoulder. "Ouch."

"- the bloody car open-" Murdoc drove his fist into 2-Ds side. "Aak."

"- you stupid idiot!"

Murdoc stopped and took a deep breath. 2-D wasn't fazed much by Murdoc's abuse. The painkillers were in full effect and he found that he kind of deserved that. "I'm sorry… ", he mumbled.

After letting out his anger towards 2-D, Murdoc shrugged it off: "Well, it wasn't even mine."

"I wanna go home…"

Murdoc left out a long sigh. "And HOW do you think we're goin' to do that without a car?"

"Walking?"

"60 miles?"

"Yeah."

"Through the rain?"

"Uh... yeah?"

"Good luck with that, I'm taking public transport."

"Oh, me too then!"

Murdoc put his fingers on his forehead. 2-D was just too much stupid for him to deal with.

2-D noticed that and asked: "Do you have a headache? You can have some of my painkillers."

"YOU are the headache."

"Oh..."

"C'mon then." Murdoc started walking down the street. He knew where the next underground station was, since it wasn't his first time at this pub without a ride home. 2-D followed him closely, holding the keyboard under his arm. While walking, 2-D started humming the melody of the song he played earlier and stared into space. After a while, he seemingly following things with his view, but there was actually nothing there. He seemed entertained. Suddenly, he tripped over a bag on the way and fell, giving him scrapes on both hands and knees. "Owww…" He turned around and looked at the bag.

Murdoc started laughing at 2-Ds misfortune and then commented: "Who the fuck leaves their trash on the sidewalk."

2-D was curious, opened the bag and looked inside. "These are **my** things!", he shouted happily.

"Oh. Yeah, I would've thrown that out too."

"This is my favorite shirt! Look Murdoc." He pulled out a white t-shirt with a red "T" on it with "Virus" written on it.

Murdoc crossed his arms and looked at him. "Great." He was not interested in his things in the slightest. "Now go pack, I want to get home before midnight."

2-D put the t-shirt back into the bag and threw it over his shoulder, but it was so heavy that he lost his balance and fell on his backside. "Dang it, that bag is really heavy.", he said while rubbing his bottom. He stood up and tried to shoulder it again, but this time more carefully and it worked. His skinny body was aching under the weight, making him breathe heavily.

He looked at the keyboard on the ground. "Uhm…"

Murdoc rolled his eyes. "Just leave that trash bag for Satan's sake."

"Can't you carry the keyboard? Isn't it yours?"

Murdoc gave 2-D a VERY angry look, but then, took the keyboard unwillingly.

"Fine, whatever. Thing's expensive."

They reached the underground station and Murdoc went straight towards the ticket barrier and looked around to see if any security guard was there. There was none, as this was a very small stop.

"Don't we need tickets?", asked 2-D, but Murdoc was already climbing over the barrier.

"Hurry up." he said to 2-D.

2D looked very uncomfortable, but had no other choice than to follow Murdoc, who had all the money. While trying to climb over the barrier, 2-D's foot got stuck and he fell over on his face. Murdoc grabbed him by his shirt, pulled him up like a ragdoll, back on his feet and pushed him forward.

"I said hurry, fuckface."

After they reached the platform to wait for the metro, Murdoc lit a cigarette, right next to a "No Smoking" sign. 2-D got nervous all of a sudden and looked to the ground while playing with his fingers.

"Uhm... hey Murdoc. Can I have one too?", he asked quietly.

"Here." To his surprise, Murdoc gave him one and the lighter, which made 2-D incredibly happy.

"Thank you!"

The tube arrived a few minutes later and they went aboard while the speakers shouted "Mind the gap." all over the platform. The car was full of people, but the managed to get two seats next to each other. It didn't take much time for 2-D to become tired. "I'm sleepy…", he noted with half closed eyes. Soon after, he started leaning towards Murdoc who didn't notice it as first. He was entertained by a mother whose children made her life miserable by complaining about all and everything. When 2-Ds head met Murdoc's shoulder, he pushed him away violently and 2-Ds face met the cold glass pane, but he didn't wake up. Murdoc placed the keyboard upright between them like a barrier and continued to listen to the children ranting about a smelly homeless, while their mother tried to explain that it's not nice to call out people. Meanwhile, 2-D was leaning to the window side, partly bent over, sleeping and drooling on his pants.

The further they drove, less people were on the tube and even Murdoc closed his eyes for a while. When they arrived at their destination, Murdoc tried to wake up 2-D.

"Hey uh… 2-D, we need to get off." 2-D made no reaction at all. Murdoc took the keyboard and nudged his shoulder. Nothing.

He then drove the end of the keyboard forcefully into the side of 2-D's head, which apparently woke him up. "Ack, what the -"

"We need to get off."

"Oh...okay." 2-D rubbed the side of his head and got up, still looking very sleepy from his nap and about to lose his balance any moment. He took his bag and Murdoc took the keyboard and they got off the tube, out of the station, climbing over the barriers once again unnoticed by the underground staff. After a short walk, they were back at Murdoc's 2-room rented apartment.

Back inside, Murdoc put the keyboard back to the other ones, while 2-D went directly for the couch and sat down. He was still very tired and exhausted from carrying his bag around. Murdoc entered the room and sat down next to him holding significant personal space distance. He was holding a phone.

"Callin' someone?"

"Nah mate, gonna order some pizza."

"Oh… yeah. Now that' cha say it, I'm **really **hungry." In fact, he had nothing to eat all day.

Murdoc entered the number and ordered pizza.

"Hey, Murdoc Niccals here, one pepperoni pizza, and make it extra hot. Yeah. Address is 23 Nodiea Street, London. And add a beer."

"Hey uh… Murdoc?" 2-D tapped Murdoc's shoulder. "I wanted a pizza too."

Murdoc gave 2-D a death glare.

"Yeah... uh wait. And add the cheapest pizza you've got…. Yeah... It's still THAT much? Urgh… Okay yeah. Bye."

"There. Happy?", he said to 2-D and put the phone back on the table, leaned back and turned on the TV.

"Yeah, kinda.", 2-D answered. "But I… I didn't even get to choose…", he mumbled to himself and looked down.

2-D changed into a cross-legged sitting position, which made him remember that his socks were still wet. He got up and searched his bag for new socks and changed them. When he went back to the couch, Murdoc was laying over the whole length of it, leaving no space for 2-D.

"Uhm… Murdoc, I want to sit too."

"Sit on the floor then."

"But…"

Murdoc looked at him angrily and 2-D realised that he wouldn't change his mind so he had no other choice as to obey.

"Okay..."

2-D sat down on the floor, leaning his back against the couch. They were watching TV for some time until the doorbell rang. Murdoc nudged 2-Ds head with his foot. "Hey 2-D, get the pizza. Money's on the table."

"But you ordered. Can't you go get it?"

"No. Look, this show is bonkers, can't miss any. So be a good boy and get the food, ok?"

"Oh. Hm. Okay."

"And don't give em a tip!", Murdoc shouted after 2-D who was on his way to the door. He opened it and got their pizza and paid the delivery boy.

"You can keep the cha-"

"NO tip!", Murdoc stood in the door all of a sudden.

"But-"

"No. Tip."

The delivery boy gave Murdoc the change and 2-D apologized. "I'm sorry… we don't have much mon-"

**-WHAM- **

Murdoc slammed the door shut, took his pizza and his beer and disappeared into the living room. 2-D was left alone at the doorstep. He opened the door again and shouted another "Sorry!" after the delivery boy, then got back into the living room to eat his pizza while watching TV. He made it only half through his pizza before dozing off.

The TV was turned off and 2-D woke up from a loud bang of a door being shut and crawled on the couch to continue sleeping there. He wrapped his arms around his body. Another night without blanket. If this continued, he might get seriously sick soon. He should've asked Murdoc to help him out.

Murdoc was in his room, walking in circles and thinking about what to do next. He had a figurehead, keyboarder and singer with lots of potential. Now all he needed was a studio, a percussionist and a guitarist. His focus was a studio right now, while watching the news about newcomer talents to fill in the other instrumental roles. Those people had to be perfect. But he had no money and still had to do lots of community service to do. It won't be easy.

2-D knocked on his door.

And, of course, he had to deal with his new dullard of a singer.

"What?!"

"Uh, Murdoc, could I get a blanket? I'm cold." He was shivering and rubbing his arms.

"I don't have any."

"Really? Awww man…" He looked very sad, but got a boost in confidence all of a sudden. "Be cool", he thought and straightened his back." You know what? I'm gonna go home. Whatever mom says, your place sucks. I dun wanna make music anyways."

"Wha- hey, after all I've done for you, you want to bail out? Y'know what? I'll get you a stupid blanket. You can't go anyways."

"What do you mean, I can't go?"

"You agreed to be in my band. There is no going back."

"Oh I didn't knew it was sum sorta agreement."

"It is bud. It is."

"Hm...Oh. Okay"

Murdoc searched through the whole apartment in search of some sort of blanket. 2-D was following him around like a shadow.

"Found one. Now go back to sleep and don't bother me any further. I have plans to make y'know."

2-D took the blanket happily and went back to the living room to finally get some rest. Meanwhile, Murdoc went back to his room and sat on his bed, lighted a cigarette and opened a beer. He was pretty tired but his head was full of ideas and plans that he had to think about.


	4. Chapter 4: Musicians At Heart

2-D woke up from a bad headache that was too much to ignore. He clutched his head and rolled into a ball, hoping it would stop somehow, but it didn't.

Just like the day before, he looked for his painkillers, took them and went for a smoke. He looked down to his feet and saw the pizza he didn't finish yesterday lying on the floor. He put it back on the table and started eating the cold pizza because he was really hungry. He then realized that it was full of dust and hairs and stuck his tongue out in disgust. The half munched glob of pizza splat on the floor. 2-D got up and went into the bathroom to drink some water directly from the faucet to wash away the unpleasant taste.

He then entered the kitchen to look for some edible breakfast. He looked into every cupboard and the freezer, but couldn't find anything. His stomach was growling and already hurt from being hungry. He thought, that maybe Murdoc had an idea where to get breakfast.

"Murdoc!", he screamed loudly through the whole house, but nobody answered.

"Murdoc?"

2-D looked around the house, into every cupboard and every tiny space, but all he found was a note on the door to Murdoc's room that said "Keep out". 2-D knocked politely, but nobody answered, so he concluded that Murdoc wasn't home.

"Murdoc where are ya? I'm hungry…", he mumbled to himself.

If 2-D wanted something to eat, he had to go and get it himself, but when he approached the front door and tried to open it, he found it locked. Apparently, Murdoc locked the door after he left to work his community service shifts.

2-D's stomach growled again. He looked out of the window but noticed that it was the 1st floor and it was a good 5 meters to the ground. He realized that he was stuck inside the house for as long as Murdoc wasn't back to unlock the front door. He slouched over the windowsill, letting his arms hang out the window and looked outside. It was partly cloudy and the air felt wet. Morning dew was on the grass.

2-D started sing sang talking: "Murdoc, Murdoc. Murdoc, Murdoc. When will you be back? Murdoc, Murdoc…. I am hungry, got nothing to eeeaaat."

Nothing interesting happened on the street and 2-D got bored, so he went back inside. His stomach growled again and he considered eating his leftover pizza because that was the best he could find anyways. He couldn't see well enough to pick the dirt from the pizza so it was all or nothing. He almost had to puke with every bite, but somehow managed to eat it all up. At least his hunger was gone now.

Afterwards, he went to the bathroom to drink more water and looked at himself in the mirror. His hair was still dirty and greasy. "I should wash." He turned around and looked at the bathtub full of trash and other things and started to empty it, one thing after another. After all his hard work, he opened the tab to let hot water in. Now all he had to do was to wait for it to fill up.

He went back into the living room to search his bag for fresh clothes to wear and brought them back to the bathroom, but the bathtub wasn't filling up.

"Huh? Oh."

He forgot to put the plug and fixed this mistake. He was worried for a moment that Murdoc would be angry at him for wasting so much water, but then realized he wasn't there so he doesn't get to know. He sat down on the bathtub and looked around, humming happily to the sound of the water filling the tub and rocking with his feet. The things he removed are now piled up on the toilet and sink. There were used towels, a baseball bat, a rubber duck, empty shampoo bottles, an umbrella and Murdoc's nasty clothes.

After it was filled, 2-D undressed and noticed a big reddish-blue spot on the side of his chest. He pushed on it and it hurt badly. "Oww…" He didn't even know where that was from, but it looked like a sprained rib. Possibly from the car accident. How did he not notice before? Possibly because of the painkillers numbing all the pain and the distracting headaches. He started counting all the bruises on his body but gave up after ten. They were all from Murdoc's abuse over the last days were 2-D was in a coma, but 2-D himself didn't knew that.

One day, Murdoc was told to give the comatose Stu-Pot a bath, but all he did was throw him into the tub with all his clothes on (to wash them too). Afterwards, he pulled him out of the tub and let him dry over the bathtub edge. The water was so hot, that 2-D almost had a heatstroke and suffered 1st degree burns all over his body and was red like a lobster for 3 days. Murdoc though that it was pretty funny. The bruised rib was from a week ago, when Murdoc stumbled over 2-D, who was lying on the floor. He forcefully kicked him into the side for this.

After 2-D was done looking at his bruises, the bathtub had filled up and he turned off the water. He stepped into the tub with one foot, but pulled it out immediately because it was too hot.

"Hot!"

After he had waited for some time, 2-D was finally able to get in and enjoy a hot refreshing and calming bath. He sunk into the water up to his mouth and started bubbling the water by blowing air out of his nose and mouth, which was fun. But his knees and half of his long legs were out of the water and getting cold, so he sat up. But now his body was getting cold. He dunked his head underwater to wash his hair and when he got up, he heard strange noises.

2-D looked at the door, completely still and listened. Footsteps were getting closer and suddenly, the bathroom door flung open. He forgot to lock it. Murdoc looked at 2-D who was frozen in shock. He then looked over to the toilet and the sink who were blocked by the various things that 2-D removed from the bathtub.

"Are you serious?! How the bloody hell am I going to piss now?!"

"I uh… I uhm… I, I -"

"SHUT YOUR FACE."

2-D flinched and pulled his legs to his body as Murdoc came over to the bathtub. He unzipped his pants and just started pissing into the bathtub. 2-D stood up immediately, looked at him in disgust and hurried to get out of the tub.

"What the 'eck you doin?!"

"Next time you move shit around **my** house, you gotta ask."

"But you-"

"Save ya lame excuse. Just hurry and fix this mess, I got more important business to do y'know."

With that, Murdoc finished and left the bathroom. He went into his room and opened the newspaper he brought home with him, but there was nothing interesting to be found.

2-D was left alone in the bathroom. Wet, naked and shivering, he looked around for the next best towel he could find and wrapped it around his waist. Then he started to shift Murdoc's things from one corner to another and cleaned up the bathroom, just like Murdoc told him to. Them he dressed up and left the bath. Back in the living room he lighted a cigarette and turned on the TV. Murdoc came into the living room, holding 2 beers in his hands.

"Move, face ache."

2-D looked at him and moved to the end of the couch. Murdoc put the bottles on the table, sat down and started smoking.

"Hey Murdoc, uh… when do you fink we goin' to make music?"

He reached out to grab one of the beer bottles and drank a few gulps.

"Eyyy, those are mine, get'cha bloody own."

"Really? I thought you bought two because one was for me."

"As if."

2-D put the bottle back onto the table in front of Murdoc.

"Hrmm…. y'know what? Keep it." Murdoc gave the bottle a disgusted look.

"Really?"

"Yeah. I don't want to get any weirdo viruses' y'know."

"I don't-"

Murdoc raised his opened hand and held it in front of 2-Ds' face to make him stop talking.

"Look. Back to your _unnecessary_ question. First, we need a proper studio to make good music. Do we have one? No. No we don't. What use is my godly bass playing and your keyboard plinking when we can't record it, eh? Besides, we still need some percussion to pep up the work and a guitarist for some juicy rrrhythm."

"Oh… ok yeah. That makes sense. Uh. And how do we find em?"

"Well uh… I dunno. They have to be the best, no dice. "

"So… what's the plan?"

"Well, the first step of my plan was to get some equipment, which I got, and then everything will fall in place. You'll see. I mean, look, I already got you as singer. The rest will follow."

"Just like that?"

"Yes."

"That doesn't sound like a good plan though."

"Hey. Have any better ideas?"

2-D thought for a few moments. With every second that went by his forehead became more and more wrinkled until he gave up.

"Hmmm… no. No I don't."

"See? Thinking about it is just a waste of precious time."

"Yeah. You're right. And it makes your head hurt."

"No it doesn't."

"Really? For me it's like thinking about what to do tomorrow. But I dun know what will happen tomorrow. And even if I plan, what if all goes wrong? Then it will be different. And tomorrow is pretty close... I fink? So there's no time to re-fink what to do. It will just happen. So I don't fink about that. Does... that make sense?"

"Just listening to you gave me migraines."

"Oh no. I'm sorry… do you want one of my headache pills?"

"I was being sarcastic y'know. I don't need your drugs."

"Sarca-what?"

Murdoc emptied his beer in a few big gulps and placed it forcefully, with a loud bang back onto the table. 2-D flinched.

"A'right, let's get to work."

"Work? You mean, like work work? Do I have a job? Do you? I uh, I forgot..."

"Music work you dumbass."

"Oooh."

"I wrote some sick-ass tunes and hmmm heart wrenching ballads and they need some fine sweet sugary voice additions."

2-D tilted his head to the side. "I… don't get it."

"I want you to sing a song I wrote."

"Ok. Why didn't you say so?"

Murdoc sighted. He stood up and went into his room where he hoisted all his instruments. 2-D remembered that he showed Murdoc his piano playing skills in that room just yesterday. The very same piano still stood in its place. Below it was small mountain of clothes and empty cigarette packs. The rest of the room was just as messy and smelled weird, like a mixture of smoke and sweat.

Murdoc took his red and white coloured bass guitar that stood neatly in the corner, which was already plugged into an amp and started with a simple bass riff.

"How's that? Good eh?"

2-D listened to his instrument. Strangely, his usual unsorted thoughts found themselves sorted out to think about a melody. He started pressing the keys of the keyboard in front of him carefully with only one finger. The melody was strangely fitting to the bass riff.

Murdoc grinned over both ears. His decision to bear with the blue haired idiot was not a bad one at least.

"Write it down. I bet your peanut brain will forget it in a second if ya don't."

"On it."

2-D started scribbling the notes down on the note paper and stuck his tongue out while doing so. They continued to pick out pieces of keyboard melody that fit to the song until it was mostly done.

"Alright, that's good. Just some more instruments, _some_ percussion and we could make it work. Anyways… let's give it some vocals, shall we?"

They played the song they just crafted again and Murdoc started singing with his rough croaky voice. "Oh rainy day…" He stopped and looked at 2-D, expecting him to continue with the lyrics. But the lanky young man continued to play the keyboard and didn't bother to look up.

Murdoc repeated his bass riff and sang again. "Oh rainy day…"

2-D looked up and looked at Murdoc, asking himself why Murdoc repeated the beginning again and again and adjusted his play to match his. He expected Murdoc to sing the full song.

Murdoc repeated the line again, but this time it was more off-key than before. "Oh rAinY day."

The blue haired boy looked at Murdoc with black, staring eyes, confusion written all over his face.

Murdoc yelled at him: "Sing the bloody lyrics!"

The keyboard went quiet. "Huh?"

"I thought you'd sing the song."

"YOU are the singer! For fucks sake!"

"But I dun know any lyrics."

Murdoc stepped in front of 2-D pointing on the note stand with the lyrics on it, gesturing towards it with every word.

"They. Are. Right. In front of you! What are you, BLIND?"

2-D squinted. "No, I can see."

Murdoc looked at him for a moment. He could not believe how someone could be so clueless. Clearly he wasn't blind or he would act differently, but the question was nowhere meant literally.

"I'm DONE!" Murdoc yelled loudly and was about to throw his bass on the ground, but stopped halfway and put it gently back into the corner. The sudden aggressive scream made 2-D take a step back. After a brief look at his bass and then at 2-D, Murdoc stomped out of the room.

2-D stood still in fear, but after Murdoc had gone out of sight, he collected his mind. He grabbed the lyrics sheet and followed Murdoc into the kitchen.

"I can read! Look, uh… it says 'ere: Oh rainy day in London, wha did I do wrong today."

Murdoc turned around slowly, rage written all over his face. He grabbed the paper out of 2-Ds hands, grabbed him by his hair, pulled his head up and pushed the paper into his throat.

"Then why didn't you sing them you twat!"

Murdoc didn't let go and pushed 2-Ds head back even more, while the singer made incomprehensive choking noises in response.

After Murdoc released him, 2-D looked at Murdoc with a face that said "why did you do that?" and then he pulled the paper out if his mouth. It was now crumpled up and wet by saliva. He tried to straighten the paper a bit and looked at the text that was even more unreadable than before.

"Sorry Murdoc. I'll sing 'em now, yeah?"

"No I'm done with you today, fuck off."

Murdoc shoved 2-D to the side and walked out of the kitchen, but stopped at the door frame and turned around once he heard footsteps behind him.

"AND STOP FOLLOWING ME!"

Murdoc kicked 2-D's shin with full force. He let out a scream of pain and pulled his leg up. Murdoc looked satisfied and left the room, slamming the door behind him.

2-D hobbled to a chair, held his leg and sat down. He looked at the door and then back to his leg.

"Wha'd I do wrong… today?"

He put the mangled lyrics sheet on the table. Some of the text that was written in a bad handwriting had become unreadable due to water damage. He thought about a way to redeem his mistake to Murdoc and came up with the idea of memorizing the full lyrics. But there was a problem though, the lyrics were now incomplete.

2-D looked outside the window. It was cloudy and dark outside and little light came through the window. The trees in had yellow spotted, muddy brown autumn leaves and their thin bare branches rocked gently in the wind. 2-D felt a sudden dread in him, as if he'd realised how bad his situation was right now. He was living in a dirty, run-down apartment, with a man he barely knew and who treated him like an unwanted child. He stared on the paper, bit on his lip and felt miserable and tried to ignore the pain in his leg. Soon, sentences formed between the readable parts, right in front of his eyes, visually just floating there and he started singing.

"_I looked out of the window, no sun is coming through._

_I wish you were here, I can't live without you._

_I can't sort my feelings, no matter what I do._

_No matter what I do._"

All of a sudden, 2-D stood up so fast that he threw over the chair he was sitting on. He had to write the verse down before he forgot it. But first, he gently put the chair back on its legs.

"Pen. Pen. I need a pen."

He opened every cabinet and pulled various things out, as well as toppling over towers of dirty dishes and trash. He finally found a pen - it was on the table he was just sitting at, hiding in plain sight. 2-D sat down and bent over the crumbled piece of lyrics and held his head, going through the lyrics in his mind, imagining it together with the keyboard and bass instruments.

He wrote the verse he just thought of on the paper, between the lines of what remained from Murdoc's original verses. Then, 2-D looked up and saw the mess he made in the kitchen and decided that he had to clean up first, otherwise Murdoc would surely be mad at him. While putting kitchen utensils back into the cabinets, dishwashing and trash collecting, he hummed the keyboard melody to the song and crafted the refrain.

"_Oh rainy day in London, what's wrong with me today?_

_What did our dreams turn into? Just shadows in our way._

_I just hope tomorrow, will be a better day._

_I just hope tomorrow, will be a better day._"

He sat down again, wrote the verse and looked out of the window again. The second verse from Murdoc was mostly unreadable except for a few words.

"_I've been home all day, cold, tired and alone._

_You left me with nothing, now everything is gone._

_I know I should go out there and live a normal life_

_And live a normal life."_

This followed by a repeat of the first refrain-

"_Oh rainy day in London, what's wrong with me today?_

_What did our dreams turn into? Just shadows in our way._

_I just hope tomorrow, will be a better day._

_I just hope tomorrow, will be a better day._"

\- and the bridge.

"_I just need to tell you this, just because I give no piss,_

_I know you've done things I hated, every day, and I still made it,_

_through the time, I spent with you, every day and every night_

_I just now have realized, that these things have not been right._

_But I can't forget you, no matter what I do._

_No matter what I do…"_

The song ends then with a slightly altered refrain.

"_Oh rainy day in London, what's wrong with me today?_

_I just want to forget you, but the thoughts won't go away._

_But I know now tomorrow, will be a better day._

_But I know now tomorrow, will be a better day."_

Now that the song was finished, and 2-D satisfied with it, he sneaked out of the kitchen and towards Murdoc's room, but was stopped at the door. The "Keep Out" note was still there and he didn't wanted to disobey it. But he also needed the keyboard to listen to his song while playing and to show it to Murdoc. 2-D went into the living room were Murdoc was sitting on the couch and watching TV, looking like he was bored out of his mind.

"Uhm. Murdoc? Can I enter ya room?"

"No."

"But I fixed the song an' I wanna play it."

"Wait. You're sayin' you were sitting in the kitchen and _actually_ wrote lyrics instead of crying your eyes out?"

"I only cried a little..."

"Yeaaah. Apparently. "

Murdoc got up and snatched the paper out of his hand and read it. There was a new personal hint to the text which made it sound more emotional, more harmonic and apparently better fitting to 2-Ds voice. Murdoc was surprised about 2-Ds writing talent.

"This is-"

Murdoc let almost out a compliment, but corrected himself.

"This is… okay. My text was _obviously_ much better, but since you ruined it, we have to go with your shoddy version."

"Can I show you?"

"Yes."

Murdoc pushed the paper onto 2-D's chest to give it back to him and went to his room. 2-D followed him with a big happy smile on his face. He started a simple drum beat that he recorded with the keyboards function, while Murdoc got his bass guitar ready.

As they started to play the song, both felt a sudden connection as their instruments started to harmonize with each other. And when 2-D began to sing, his soft voice filled the room with emotions, singing a song of someone who lost a loved one. For the first time, Murdoc felt something else than hate and annoyance in 2-Ds presence, something he could not grasp by his own. It felt good to make music again and 2-D added a certain kind of spirit to that, what his former bands never had. When the song came to end, the feeling still lingered in the air.

"Y'know what? We're good at this. Really."

Murdoc felt proud. Proud of himself to have found this miracle on stick legs. And he swore to himself that he'd not let him go ever, like a special piece of treasure. 2-D will be the key, the final instrument for him to become famous.

"Ya like it?"

"Yeah. Good job 2-D."

2-D felt relieved. All the miserable and bad feelings from before were gone. Even though Murdoc wasn't the nicest person, especially not to him, he knew how to make music. 2-D admired that. With Murdoc's decision to take 2-D as vocalist, he gave him something he would not have managed to do by himself. Something to look forward to, a reason to live and a place in the world. And that was great.


End file.
